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Black Sails

So, normally, I would explain to you what about each of these episodes I love. However, this year has kind of deflated me. In general, I have not posted as often as I would have liked, because I have not really been able to find the motivation. Moving forward, I plan to take a break from posting here at all, but will continue updating Twitter and Facebook with TV news and opinions. And hopefully, I will find my inspiration again in 2018. If nothing else, I will be working very hard to get Beto O’Rourke elected to the United States Senate in Texas.

But, for now, this is my list of favorite episodes, not necessarily what I believe are the best episodes of the year, just my favorites. I would still love to hear what are some of your favorites, so please share them with me in the comments!

I meant to post this last week, but got distracted by Easter, so these are my favorite quotes from the past *three* weeks, mostly from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Black SailsFlint: They paint the world full of shadows, and then tell their children to stay close to the light.

Jack: I will go on from time to time, but generally in the service of thoroughness, and always with the best of intentions.

Into the BadlandsWaldo: You ready to face the music?The Widow: And make them dance to my tune.

iZombieVivian: You really should tan and dye. We’re trying to keep a secret here.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.Simmons: You’re not even real, you rogue piece of code!

Brockmire
Jim: I can’t believe you had sex with that guy.
Jules: Why? he’s very nice, and knows a lot about wine, and isn’t diabetic. And around here, that makes him the catch of the frickin’ century.

Jim: Baseball makes me want to exist. You…you make me want to live.

The Man In The High Castle
Joe: You can’t build a better world if there’s nothing left of it.

These are my favorite quotes from the past two weeks, mostly from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Black SailsBilly: There are no two people close enough that something cannot separate them.

Max: I said no to Madam Guthrie’s plan, despite having no alternative, and at the risk of losing the entire endeavor, because I refuse to situate a man in a position where he might interfere one day with my ability to repair things with you. You are the bravest person I have ever known. The truest person I have ever known. And I betrayed you and it sickens me. I am so sorry for working so hard to protect the wrong things. For failing to see that there is nothing important that does not include you.

The FlashBarry: Look, I don’t know who you are…obviously someone who’s quick with a knife.

BlindspotPatterson: You lied to me. You betrayed me. You destroyed me.

Tangled: The SeriesCassandra: Rapunzel, I want to trust you, and I trust that you trust Eugene, but *I* don’t trust Eugene, and if I can’t trust Eugene, I can’t trust you, and you’re just going to have to trust me! …Trust me, that logic tracks.

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, mostly from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Black SailsMadi: It will be difficult, but since when did we expect it to be anything else?

Israel: You don’t know, hmm? You don’t know? Why should I follow you if you don’t know? Why would anyone? I don’t give a shit what goes on in there. Fuck Flint. Don’t fuck Flint. Fuck Billy. Don’t fuck Billy. I don’t give a shit what you choose, but fucking choose! And don’t make me suffer the thinking. Worry ain’t a good look for a king. Not in a kingdom like this, where loyalty is in short supply.

Big Little LiesMadeline: I love my grudges. I tend to them like little pets.

Jasper: What’s wrong with you?Sara Alice: The princess is leaving. What’s wrong with you?
Jasper: The princess is leaving.

Jasper: I know I hurt you, and I’m not expecting you to just run back into my arms but, if you leave this palace behind, don’t leave us behind. You’re my girl, Princess. And I’m gonna love you no matter what.

Big Little LiesBonnie: None of us really see things as they are. We see things as we are.

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, mostly from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Black SailsCaptain Berringer: The time calls for dark men to do dark things.

The RoyalsLord Westcott: We saw a king today, and it wasn’t you.

Jane the VirginAlba: It will always feel different. You’ll always feel different. But you will be okay. And your life will be beautiful again. Just in different ways.

New GirlKim: I don’t have to explain myself to a chimney sweep!

TimelessWyatt: We gotta get outta here right now.Rufus: We’re just supposed to leave him here like this?Wyatt: What do you wanna do? Wait for the cops? We don’t have IDs. I’m wearing button-fly jeans from The Gap! There’s nothing we can do.

ArrowOliver: We don’t run from hard choices. We rise up and we face tomorrow together.

RiverdaleKevin: What was it like before she got here? I honestly cannot remember.

The Vampire DiariesDamon: People do forgive, and when they do redemption *is* possible.

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, mostly from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Black SailsSilver: If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t considered killing you in months.

VictoriaVictoria: I have decided to go to Windsor.Lord M: On a Wednesday?Victoria: Yes. You know how fond I am of trees.

Albert: For me, this is not a marriage of convenience.Victoria: No. I think it will be a marriage of inconvenience. But I have no choice.Albert: Neither do I.

The Royals
Jasper: Maybe that’s what you need to see. She’s moving on, you can move on and never look back.Liam: You give some shit advice sometimes, you know that? “She’s moving on”?… Eleanor had a date today.
Jasper: What? With who?Liam: Just some naked prince. You tell me. That help you?
Jasper: No, you’re right. That was shit advice. It just actually made it so much worse.

SupergirlMon-El: I thought James was a professionally handsome desk person.

Livewire: You know what I love? Little boys who think they can do a better job than the woman who’s an *actual* superhero.

I know you have all been waiting for this, so here is my list of returning shows that I am most looking forward to in 2017. Sometimes, I look back at these lists and mourn the shows we have lost too soon or found their natural end. Hopefully, there are not too many of them this year.

1. BONES, season 12 premieres January 3rd on Fox, Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne, Tamara Taylor, John Boyd, Patricia Belcher, Michael Grant Terry, Eugene Byrd, Carla Gallo, Pej Vahdat, Ryan O’Neal, Joel David Moore, Ignacio Serricchio, Laura Spencer, and Eric Milligan. In this final season premiere, Dr. Brennan has been kidnapped by former squintern Zack Addy. No one knows what Zack is up to, but Agents Booth and Aubrey, with the help of the Jeffersonian team, must find her and bring her home safely. This has never been one of my “must-watch” shows, but it has been consistently well-written, and the chemistry among the entire cast is always excellent. I am interested to see how they bring this series to a close.

2. HOMELAND, season 6 premieres January 15th on Showtime, stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend, F. Murray Abraham, Sebastian Koch, and Elizabeth Marvel. Carrie is back in the United States with Franny, and is working as an advocate for Muslim Americans. Saul and the CIA have a new President-Elect to brief, and she is not necessarily on their side. Quinn is awake, and dealing with the reality of his health situation. It all sounds like it might hit a little too close to home for our country right now, which means it should definitely be an interesting season.

3. MERCY STREET, season 2 premieres January 22nd on PBS, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, AnnaSophia Robb, McKinley Belcher III, Patina Miller, Hannah James, Norbert Leo Butz, Josh Radnor, Lyne Renée, Tara Summers, Bryce Pinkham, L. Scott Caldwell, Brían F. O’Byrne, Luke Macfarlane, Jack Falahee, Donna Murphy, Brad Koed, Gary Cole, Suzanne Bertish, Shalita Grant, and Peter Gerety. I did not watch the first season as it aired, but once I realized what a fantastic cast it had, I decided I need to give it a try. Set during the Civil War, this show takes places at a hospital in Virginia, where both Union and Confederate soldiers are treated. The nurses, doctors, and the freed slaves that work at the hospital all have differing views about what it means to do good during this time of conflict. The second season picks up in June of 1862 and everyone is realizing that things in the country are going to get much worse before they get better.

4. OUTSIDERS, season 2 premieres January 24th on WGN America, stars David Morse, Ryan Hurst, Kyle Gallner, Thomas M. Wright, Gillian Alexy, Joe Anderson, and Christina Jackson. The first season ended with a stand-off on the mountain between the Farrells and the local law enforcement and, from the trailer, it looks like there will be a pretty epic fight in the first episode back. The coal company and the town are still looking for a way to contain the Farrells, which causes some fighting within the clan. I loved the first season, and this second one looks even more action-packed, so I am very excited to see what happens next.

My list of favorite episodes each year is usually a combination of things that made me think, and things that just made me really happy. I always like to preface my list with the recognition that these are simply *my* favorite episodes, and not necessarily the best episodes, because I know that there is way too much good TV to make that statement, and that other people have different tastes than me. So, here we go…

1. Game of Thrones “The Winds of Winter”
The previous episode “The Battle of the Bastards” was also fantastic, but this is my favorite because everything starts to come together in the season finale. Cersei refuses to stand trial, and instead blows up the High Sparrow, the Faith Militant, and most of the Tyrell family. Tommen then kills himself, and Cersei takes the Iron Throne. Aria exacts vengeance on House Frey for the Red Wedding. Bran has become the Three-Eyed Raven and learns that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Jon and Sansa have reclaimed Winterfell for the Starks, and Jon is named the King of the North by the rest of the Northern families, with a little help from Lyanna Mormont. Daenerys makes Tyrion the Hand of the Queen and begins sailing across the Summer Sea with her dragons and her army, aligned with Dorne, Highgarden, and House Greyjoy. Everything seems to have fallen into place, and it set-up what will hopefully be a eventful season seven. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

2. Black Sails “XXVIII”
I had not read a lot about the show before starting to watch, and have never read Treasure Island, so I actually did not know that the show is a prequel to the book until the end of the most recent season. I mostly just like pirates and decided to finally catch up on the whole series this year. In this season finale, there is an epic battle between Flint’s and Rackham’s crews, the Maroons and the British. After the British are handily defeated, with help from Blackbeard, the pirate captains sit down together and begin to figure out a plan to take back Nassau. Meanwhile, Billy Bones and a few select others have been instilling fear in the people of the island, and Silver is finally given the name ‘Long John Silver.’ Lines have been drawn in Nassau, and if you are not with the pirates, you are against them.

3. 12 Monkeys “Blood Washed Away”
For me, this is the best science fiction show on television right now. Every season I think they cannot possibly blow my mind any more, and then they do, over and over again throughout the season. Cole and Cassie are stuck together in 1958, with no way back to the future unless they stop the primary from causing another paradox. When they fail, they FINALLY admit to each other that they are both in love, and they face those feelings head on. Back in 2044, everyone else is searching for Titan so that they can kill The Witness. This is not the season finale, but it ends in such a way that you have no idea how they could possibly go on from here, and yet they do somehow, and it is excellent.

4. Lovesick “Frankie”
This show makes me laugh a lot. This episode in particular made me cry with laughter. The reason this episode has made my list is because of one specific scene where Angus has eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms and somehow manages to get into the freezer at a grocery store. He is enjoying the cold temperature, and tells Dylan that it’s like being in Narnia. When the grocery store employee tells him to get out, he tries to hide by putting a bag of frozen peas over his face. Later, after Dylan’s car gets a flat tire, Angus is afraid that they are being watched so he runs into the woods and climbs a tree. I chuckle just thinking about it.